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CABPES
Course Descriptions – JETS Program |
ARCHITECTURE
Course
Prerequisites: None
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 10, 11 or 12
Maximum
Class Size: 10 students
Course
Description:
The Architecture class includes a variety of activities
to introduce the students to this exciting profession. They
learn about the importance of the internal and external relationships
of buildings and review the four basic steps to good design: (1) site analysis, (2) architectural program,
(3) site design and (4) design of spaces and details. Students
participate in a number of activities that demonstrate these
key architectural concepts. They construct study models, attend
lectures by architecture professionals and attend a class with
the Civil Engineering students to learn about urban planning.
Each year the class chooses a project to design.
This project presents the students with an opportunity
to experience the process steps necessary for completing an
actual architectural project. Each student is assigned to a design team
and each team is responsible for certain elements of the project.
The students discuss and exhibit their work at the May banquet.
Lead
Advisor: Rudolph Brown
Rudolph Brown
(Rudy) graduated from Tuskegee
University
with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Architecture. He has an extensive career in architecture,
having worked many years for the National Park Services and
the USDA Forest Services. In 2003, he established his own firm,
RV Brown, Architect. Recently,
Rudy founded and serves as head coach for the Colorado Ravens,
a youth development organization. He joined CABPES as the Lead
Advisor for the Architectural Program in 1998.
BASIC
PROGRAMMING
Course Prerequisites: None
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 6, 7 or 8
Maximum
Class Size: 10 students
Course
Description:
The Basic Programming course is designed to introduce
students to the fundamentals of programming by providing each
student with a “hands-on” computer experience. The
students have the opportunity to formulate a sound programming
foundation along with some exposure to the internal and external
components of the computer. Students are responsible for loading various
software packages on to their individual computers, including
Qbasic and Visual Basic, both products of the Microsoft Corporation.
Qbasic is used to introduce the students to the fundamental
concepts of programming. These concepts include key words, variable,
data types, branch conditions, and logic. Once these concepts
are understood, Visual Basic is used to learn some of the more
advanced concepts, including objects, properties, forms, actions,
and events.
Lead
Advisor: Melodie Brooks
Melodie Brooks is a Denver
native, having graduated from George
Washington High School
and earning a Bachelor’s of Science degree at Lincoln University.
She also received a Master’s Degree in Computer Information
from the University of Denver. Melodie has been employed
by Avaya, Inc. for the past 23 years, where she performs system
verification on PBX systems. She has been a CABPES adult volunteer
and the Lead Advisor of the Basic Programming Class for 15 years. Melodie
loves working with children and, in addition to her work at
CABPES, she coaches basketball year round and is the chairperson
for the Ski-For-Kids winter program.
C+
PROGRAMMING
C ourse
Prerequisites: JETS Basic Programming Course; Basic Mathematics;
Introductory Algebra
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 9, 10, 11 or 12
Maximum
Class Size: 6 students
Course
Description:
The C+ Programming class introduces students to one
of the most widely-used and highly regarded programming languages
in the world today. Ninety percent of the computer programs
used are programmed using the ‘C’ language. The
‘C’ programming language is also a basis for C++
and Java. Learning the ‘C’ language also helps the
beginning programmer really understand the architecture of a
computer. Knowledge of key computer components such as RAM,
ROM and the CPU is a necessity for successful programming. The
class begins by focusing on a computer’s architecture
by detailing how the human generated program is distilled down
to a ”computer readable" program by the use
of the ‘C’ compiler. Students then can see
how the language utilizes computer architecture by doing things
such as reading and writing to memory locations and assigning
values to memory locations. Most weeks, class time is
spent introducing new aspects of the computer language, and
participating in interactive demonstrations. During the
last quarter of class, their knowledge of the language is brought
together into a final project.
Lead
Advisor: David Hinds
David holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering
from the University
of Delaware, and a Master’s of Science Degree
in Electrical Engineering from Princeton
University.
In 1996, David joined Denver's
Lucent Technologies - Bell Laboratories, which is now Avaya
Inc. Currently, David is a Senior Manager in Avaya’s Solution
Realization Organization. Since 1996, David has been
a member of CABPES and an instructor in the Electrical Engineering
and Electronics Group. For the past five years, he has
served as Secretary of the CABPES Board of Directors and Lead Advisor for the
C+ Programming course.
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Course
Prerequisites: None
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12
Maximum
Class Size: 12 students
Course
Description:
The
Civil Engineering Program is advised by local members of the
American Society of Civil Engineers Younger Members Group and
course work includes a variety of topics covering all facets
of civil engineering: transportation, urban planning, structures,
water/wastewater, surveying, and bridge design. “Cities
of the Future” is the theme for this year’s class.
After learning about each component of a city – such as
roads and bridges, the students will come up with ideas of how
these things might be constructed in the future. The students
will plan and construct a scale model of their “City of
the Future” over the course of the school year. The year-end
project will be a team bridge building competition.
Lead Advisor: Laura LaRiviere
Laura is a civil engineer, employed by Boyle Engineering
Corporation, with a background in water resources. She holds
a Bachelor of Science’s degree in Civil Engineering from
Purdue University
and a ME in Civil Engineering from Texas
A&M University.
She is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Colorado. This is Laura’s 5th
year as an advisor with the JETS civil engineering class.
ELECTRONICS/ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
Course
Prerequisites: None
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12
Maximum
Class Size: 14 students (6 slots reserved for high school students)
Course
Description
This program is a beginner’s introduction to
electronics, giving students exposure to basic electrical concepts,
as well as the opportunity to gain insight into what is involved
in a career in electrical engineering. Students explore electronics
through discussions and demonstrations in basic electronics
principles, components and products. Discussion topics include the structure
of the atom, concepts of voltage, current, resistance, frequency,
digital logic and how engineers develop a product. Students
participate in “hands-on” labs built around the
class discussions, in which they learn concepts such as Ohm’s
Law and how to use electronic test equipment.
Lead
Advisor: Ron Fontenot
Ron is a technical
manager with Avaya, Inc. Ron first approached the Colorado
Association of Black Professional Engineers and Scientists (CABPES)
with the idea of establishing a JETS Program (Junior Engineers
Tomorrow's Scientists) in 1980. JETS classes began in 1981 and have expanded throughout the
years. Ron has taught the Electronics/Electrical Engineering
class at CABPES for 25 years. In 2005, Ron was
recognized by 9 Who Care and Channel 7 Everyday Heroes for his
work at CABPES.
INRTODUCTION
TO THE INTERNET
C ourse
Prerequisites: General knowledge of PCs, basic keyboarding skills
& an insatiable desire to learn
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12
Maximum
Class Size: 10 students
Course Description
The
primary goal of this course is to raise the students’
level of understanding and use of the Internet. The class begins
with a refresher on how a PC works and history of the Internet.
After introductory lessons, throughout the next three lessons,
they cover subjects such as--how to connect to the Internet,
the nuts and bolts of web browsers, how to explore the Internet
more efficiently and how e-mail works. In the second half of
the class, they explore topics such as--how to design a website,
HTML-the programming language for the Internet, and what makes
a website more popular. Finally, they wrap up the class with
a final project--creating a personal website.
Lead
Advisor: John Henson
John
is an Electrical Engineer, having spent 25 years of his career
a product manager at Avaya, Inc (Lucent Technologies) where
he was involved with the Black manager's organization, ABLE,
helping with professional development. He is a graduate of Prairie View
University.
John joined CABPES eight years ago and served as an assistant
advisor before becoming lead advisor for the Introduction to
Internet course two years ago.
MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING
Course Prerequisites: Algebra and Basic Physics
Grade
Level: Students must be in grades 10, 11 or 12
Maximum
Class Size: 10 students
Course
Description
The Mechanical
Engineering course is designed to introduce students
to the fundamentals of mechanical engineering.
The course is general and practical, emphasizing the
major aspects of mechanical engineering taught at the college
level, and how these fundamentals are applied in the real world.
The students are introduced to the principles of statics
and dynamics, strength of materials, fluids, and machine design
through hands-on experience, classroom problems, professor and
guest lectures, videos and field trips. The course culminates with a final project
where the methods learned in class are applied to the development
and resolution of a mechanical engineering problem and presented
at the annual banquet.
Co-Advisor:
Brian J. Levitt
Brian graduated
in 1972 from Colorado
State University
with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering
and earned a Master’s of Science in Management degree
from Colorado Technical
University
in 2001. Brian is currently a senior mechanical
engineer for the Industrial Process – Oil, Gas and Chemicals
division for Washington Group International, where he supports
the mechanical effort in the design of materials handling systems.
Brian joined CABPES in 2001.
Co-Advisor:
Kira Sanders
Kira graduated
from the University
of Colorado
with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering
in 1999 and a Masters of Engineering in 2004.
Kira is a mechanical engineer for Washington Group International
where she currently supports various mechanical efforts in the
Industrial Process- Oil, Gas and Chemicals division.
Kira is a CABPES success story having gone through the
program as a JETS student (1989-1994). Kira came back to CABPES
as an advisor in 2001 and is a member of the CABPES
Board of Directors.
